Scott Olsen, the former Marine and Iraq War veteran who was struck in the head with a police projectile during an Occupy Oakland protest in October 2011, has settled his federal lawsuit against the city for $4.5 million.

Olsen suffered permanent brain injuries when he was hit with a “flexible baton round” fired by an Oakland police officer on the night of Oct. 25, 2014. A flexible baton round, the city explains, is “a cloth-enclosed, lead-filled round fired from a shotgun.”‘They could give me a billion dollars and it wouldn’t give me my brain back.’— Scott Olsen,
Former Marine and injured protester

Appearing with his attorneys today, Olsen said the settlement “should be enough to allow me to get by for the rest of my life. But they could give me a billion dollars, right, and it wouldn’t give me my brain back.”

In a statement, City Attorney Barbara Parker called the settlement “fair”: “Mr. Olsen suffered a tragic injury that will affect him for the rest of his life. This settlement will save the City the far greater costs of a trial and potentially much higher judgment. This is a fair settlement given the facts of the case and the significant injuries Mr. Olsen sustained.”

Breaking away from the tone of straight reportage for a second: Take a look at the video embedded above. It’s remarkable: a 10-minute documentary that recounts the events of the night Olsen was shot, including footage from the Oakland Police Department. What the video can’t explain is the cruelty and sadism — I can’t think of other words that fit, honestly — exhibited by the Oakland officer who tossed a flash-bang grenade into the small and entirely non-threatening group of people who had gathered to help the grievously injured Olsen.

The agreement between Olsen and the city is the latest in a string of large settlements arising from the Occupy Oakland protests and earlier demonstrations in the wake of a BART officer’s killing of passenger Oscar Grant early New Year’s Day 2009. Those settlements include:

Cheap. If you don’t support the military, don’t get cheap and wear the uniform. You get all the rights to protest, but you lost the right to wear the uniform. You can’t “protest the war in Iraq” it is what the military does. Most of the bad things that happened were the individual acts of people who were scared, or even evil individuals taking things in their own directions. There is not some conspiracy coming form headquarters to sweep and clear out villages. Well Oakland will pay for his weed for the rest of his life.

myfeethurt

So lets go to the cop and Scott’s desire for the end to tools of the trade. What does it take to stop a growing group blocking off a person’s right to travel, or even safety? You can grab the bullhorn and say please disperse a million times. Will they listen? I am not for or against the occupy movement, but you can’t commandeer public areas for your activities on a whim. Even permits will have restrictions. How long, how wide of a swath etc. to coincide with the business of the day, normal travel etc. Trying to appease both groups is not easy. You are forced to ramp it up step by step. That would include use of water hoses and tear gas if necessary. These bean bag rounds are reserved for the violent ones I hope. And is there misuse? I’m sure there is, but once again, this is not 1000 people sitting orderly in a church. There is vandalism, people are throwing things, running back and forth. The cops are often outnumbered and it is tough to accurately pick out what was done to whom by whom. Is this a hall pass for the cops. No, and I think that is why they are also filming it. It has gotten to that point.

Author

Dan Brekke

Dan Brekke is a blogger, reporter and editor for KQED News, responsible for online breaking news coverage of topics ranging from California water issues to the Bay Area's transportation challenges. In a newsroom career that began in Chicago in 1972, Dan has worked as a city and foreign/national editor for The San Francisco Examiner, editor at Wired News, deputy editor at Wired magazine, managing editor at TechTV as well as for several Web startups.

Since joining KQED in 2007, Dan has reported, edited and produced both radio and online features and breaking news pieces. He has shared in two Society of Professional Journalists Norcal Excellence in Journalism awards — for his 2012 reporting on a KQED Science series on water and power in California, and in 2014, for KQED's comprehensive reporting on the south Napa earthquake.

In addition to his 44 years of on-the-job education, Dan is a lifelong student of history and is still pursuing an undergraduate degree.